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Urging Mirror readers to lend their support, League Against Cruel Sports president Bill Oddie said: “To make sure there are enough game birds for the gunmen and gunwomen, natural predators have already been shot, trapped or snared.

“It’s not only moorland birds like the graceful and rapidly declining hen harrier, but now also buzzards - killed to supposedly protect non-native pheasant and partridge chicks that are bred in conditions little better than battery hens, for no other purpose but to be shot.”

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He said: “To make a profit, driven grouse shoots depend on intensive land management.

“This leads to an increase in flood risk and greenhouse gas emissions as well as extermination of wildlife like foxes, stoats and mountain hares in large numbers.”

The Countryside Alliance’s head of shooting, Liam Stokes, told the Mirror: “We don’t dispute that there have been issues with hen harrier persecution among game keepers, but the answer isn’t and can’t be banning grouse shooting.

“We have no fear of a petition resulting in a debate because then the truth will come out.

“This has to be dealt with in a cooperative manner. We need cooperation between landowners, game keepers and conservationists to solve this.”